School, popcorn and two birds
by bloodyXwhiteXrabbit
Summary: Damian comes home from his first day at school, obviously in a bad mood and Dick tries to cheer him up.


Awww, Dick and Dami, my favourite Bat-brothers :)  
>A short story that popped up in my head three days ago<p>

* * *

><p>The door banged shut loudly, startling Dick Grayson, who sat in the living room of the Wayne penthouse, reading a magazine.<br>He sighed and wondered what had been the reason behind Damian's terrible mood today.  
>Bruce was out doing Wayne business and Tim went on a study-date with Tam, so Dick was the only one who would have to deal with the little devil's mood.<br>I should have returned earlier, he thought.

"Hey Dami, How was your first day at school?"

The answer came as a flying messenger bag that hit the back of his head.

"Ouch! Damian what was that about?"

"TT"

Dick watched Damian ripping open his tie and throwing it to the ground as he walked up the stairs to his room and slammed the door shut.

"'Not so great, Grayson, but I am happy to see you too…'" Dick muttered, imitating Damian's voice.

Sometimes the boy was simply frustrating.

Some weeks ago Bruce had decided, that Damian would benefit from going to school and had forced him into entering Gotham middle school.  
>Of course it was no problem for the son of Bruce Wayne to enter, but the problem was to convince Damian that he needed it, badly, considering his social skills.<br>There was no doubt that he'd be terribly bored during the lessons, since he had been taught by experts before,  
>but to become a little more 'normal' he needed to learn how to act in public and how to interact with normal people.<br>Damian knew that, but didn't want to hear it, because he was the heir to the Al Ghul, and to batman…  
>That alone was like having a tattoo on his forehead saying: I AM A SOCIOPATHIC KILLER CHILD in red ink.<p>

But in the end Damian agreed, and when he had stepped down the stairs this morning wearing his school uniform and with his hair neatly combed back,  
>Dick's heart leapt in joy. It was as if his own little son was going to school, looking extremely handsome.<br>He knew that the girls would be all over Damian in no time,  
>with his flawless tanned skin and ice blue eyes and his strange 'mysterious' behaviour that would attract even more girls.<br>Dick had honestly hoped that Damian would have had some fun today, not that he'd ever expected the boy to show it, but obviously it had been a really bad day for Dami.  
>Unfortunately there was nothing that Dick could have done to change it now;<br>Damian would have to come down by himself, so Dick decided that it would be best to order in some Chinese and wait for Damian to calm down.

"Damian?" Dick called up the stairs

"I ordered food… you like Japanese, right? The Chinese was closed."

There was no answer.  
>Looking at the packed boxes of Japanese food, Dick sighed and put one away, might as well eat alone.<p>

After washing the dishes and another hour of waiting for Damian to come down, Dick came to the conclusion that maybe he should check on his little brother.  
><em>Another ten minutes, I'll give him ten minutes to come down.<em>  
>With that, he sat down on the sofa and watched TV while eating some of the fresh-made popcorn.<br>The door opened after exactly eight minutes, and he heard Damian stepping down the stairs carefully.  
>Dick tried to act normal and ignored him, but he felt Damian's sharp eyes resting on him,<br>it was one of those situations where you weren't allowed to laugh, but the absurdity of the situation made it hard not to burst into laughter.  
>Slowly Damian tip toed over to the couch and sat down next to Dick, pulling up his knees and grabbed some popcorn.<p>

"What are you watching?"

"A movie"

Popcorn hit Dick's head.

"What movie?"

"This movie"

"…"

More Popcorn hit the older's head.

"It's called Death at the funeral, British comedy, hilarious." Dick's voice was evenly and a tiny bit annoyed.

It was exactly what Damian hated, being ignored like this.  
>Of course Dick was fully aware of Damian's need to be recognized and acknowledged at all times,<br>but he insisted on making the boy talk, he wouldn't help and spoil him even more.  
>For a while they sat there in silence, watching the movie, challenging each other to break the tense atmosphere until Damian mumbled something inaudible.<p>

"What was that?" Dick asked, turning his head to look at him.

"I don't want to go back" answered the annoyed teen.

"To school?"

"No, to Disney world, you idiot."

"Have you ever even been there?"

Damian scoffed

"Do I look like I've ever been there?"

Grinning, Dick raised his hands.

"You look like you could star as one of the villains. The only thing you'd need is a moustache and purple clothes."

He earned a glare that could have caused genocide, making his grin even wider.

"Stop grinning!"

Dick cleared his throat and put on a serious face.

"Okay, then let's talk about why you don't want to go back to school."

Damian shrugged

"What makes you think I want to talk about it?"

God, this boy was tiring; Dick thought and slapped his forehead.

"Because you brought it up?"

another handful of popcorn hit him, in the face this time.

"Damn it, Damian, stop that already!"

Despite Damian's protests, he put away the bowl.

"Now let's be serious. Why do you hate school?"

Damian threw his arms in the air and groaned annoyed.

"How could you not? The teachers all try to be overly kind and fake, while all the children act strangely towards me!"

"What do you mean strangely?"

Angry, Damian shrugged

"I don't know, they all talk so strange and wanted to play stupid childish things I don't even know!  
>They talked about something called Pokémon… What the heck is that anyway?<br>And the girls… they all eye me like they know about me being Robin!  
>They ask me strange questions all the time… who cares what my favourite colour is?<br>And, and, during science class, the teacher, that f***in asshole dared to scold me, because I would make the others look dumb!  
>I only corrected one of the stupid monkeys because he was claiming completely wrong facts to be true!"<p>

In an attempt to calm Damian down a bit, he put an arm around his shoulders and pulled him a little bit closer.  
>Dick was aware that it was only due to the fact that they were alone that he hadn't been punched in the face yet.<p>

"Look Dami, forget about the teachers, they all suck, and about the other children." He patted Damian's shoulder.  
>"You knew that it wasn't going to be easy fitting in. And by the way, I think the girls eye you for a complete different reason than knowing about your Identity as a vigilante."<br>He received a questioning look  
>"I think they think you look good, and they want to get to know you… and they know that your father is stinking rich, but I think we'll talk about that when you are a bit older."<p>

"I know that I am handsome, I carry the perfect genes. But I can't really see the appeal of a girl, at least not one like them."

Dick chuckled "So young and already fixed on a type?"

For that he earned a punch into his ribs.

"It's not like I have a type… I just think that having a woman around that always relies on you and is constantly playing the damsel in distress is annoying."

"Wow, that's really interesting…"

"Was that sarcasm?" Damian asked, cracking his knuckles threatening.

"No, not at all. It's just that many guys prefer a weak woman, so they can show off and feel superior."

"Are you like them?" Despite his usual arrogant and sarcastic way, Damian was now sincerely asking Dick.

"hmmm, me and women is kind of a topic that will have to wait until you are older."

Offended, Damian scooted away

"I am not a child, Grayson! And don't think just because I am thirteen means that I have no knowledge about the topic of men and women."

"Damian I am not talking about …"

"My mother taught me all about reproduction and relationships when I was nine."

Dick sighed and leaned back.

"Listen, even though I didn't expect that, I was not talking about sexual intercourse."

"What else is there to a relationship? I know that the undying love is nonexistent and that all the fairytales are, well exactly that, fairytales."

It didn't really surprise Dick that Damian thought about sex as only a method to produce children,  
>given that his mother was a strange women with even stranger views on the world itself.<p>

"Look Dami, there is more to sex and there is more to a relationship… but seriously, I think you just use this conversation as an excuse for not talking about school."

"Am not."

"Whatever, are you still mad?"

Damian glared at Dick, before shaking his head.

"So, are you going to try and go to school tomorrow again? If you settle in, you'll like it."

Surprisingly, Damian looked at him insecure and maybe even a bit scared.

"You think?"

"I am sure of it. You didn't feel at home with us at first, right? Well now you come home and throw your stuff around like you own this place."

"Someday I will Grayson."

Shaking his head, Dick got up. "Just try to be nice to the other students, okay?"

"What if one of them is being aggressive towards me?"

"Don't break any bones, okay?"

Damian laughed.

"I can't make any promises."


End file.
